


The River

by PerennialFall



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Drama & Romance, Drawing, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Kissing, Male-Female Friendship, Muses, Post-Game Adventure, Romance, Romanticism, Secret crush spills out through clumsiness, Shad is a disaster again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-14 07:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20188666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerennialFall/pseuds/PerennialFall
Summary: They'd stopped upon a glistening river on their way to the Hebra frontier in the North. Unable to concentrate on his notes, Shad found himself sketching the true beauty of the wilds throughout their journey, instead.





	The River

**Author's Note:**

> AN: ... So uh, the spirit of whatever _this_ is took hold of me and it needed to be written. Also, my main story is definitely being updated, this is just a one-shot holiday~ 
> 
> Feedback is appreciated! I am here for the rare-ships. 
> 
> **Prompt:** “Even when they did not look at each other or speak to each other, he could feel a powerful current between them.” - Anaïs Nin, Delta of Venus.

**The River**  
  
The journey was cold, hard, and _rough._  
  
For two weeks Ashei and Shad traversed across the perilous lands to the north of the Zora's Domain... where the atmosphere had been positively delightful in comparison. The air around the waterfall basin carried a gentle humidity and a scent not unlike that of the rains, along with the croaking of frogs and the tremulous glow of fireflies at dusk.  
  
The scholar almost wished that they hadn't passed it, for the rest of the road was so dreary in measure, and the chill of the mountains had soaked right into his socks.  
  
It also hadn't helped that most of their journey had been governed by a deferential quiet, save for their breaks around the campfire, where even then Ashei disappeared to hunt before sundown. Without the rest of their usual companions around to keep him company - their lives drawn to other corners of the world by Hyrule's restoration efforts - Shad was simply left to content himself with the familiar draw of his books.  
  
Embarking on an adventure like this at the Queen's behest was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the scholar couldn't have complained of the fact that he was being sponsored to uncover the mysteries of these new lands. By good fortune, the woman at his side also happened to be his long-time colleague and friend... the _sword_ to his quill, the muscle to his intellect.  
  
Though, as romantic as that had seemed on paper, it really didn't make the saddle any less rough on his bones. And, rather than disturbing the peace they'd carved out in the duration of their working relationship, Shad reconciled that the warrior was better left undisturbed... as free to exist in her element as the blue nightshade they'd just passed along the mountain path.  
  
"Hey," came the gruff voice from nearby, heavier than normal from hours of travel. Shad immediately whipped his attention forward. Her armour glinted back at him through the muted light of the evening.  
  
"We should stop here for the night. Set up camp and I'll be back with something to eat, yeah?"  
  
"Of course," he smiled.  
  
Coming to an abrupt halt, Ashei slid down from the side of her horse and walked over to a reclusive spot cut into the mountain pass, tucked out of the way of the weather. The last rays of the sun hit the snow on the top of the mountains nearby, drawing the scholar's attention momentarily before he'd seen her readying her hunting equipment.  
  
"You're going down to the river to fish?" he blinked, noting that they were some height away from the basin.  
  
"Do you see any pheasants around here?" she retorted.  
  
"I only mean... to be careful. The wolves have only gotten louder in the evenings."  
  
"On that note," the warrior smirked as she smacked the smaller of her bows and a quiver of arrows against his chest. "Remember everything I showed you? Not that you're likely to need it."  
  
But before he could open his mouth to say anything, she made her way to the drop-off, descending quietly to the estuary below.   
  
With the campfire and bedrolls set, Shad soon found a comfortable nook of a nearby tree in which to settle with his notes. Strategically, he'd selected someplace where not even the wolves could have gotten the drop over his shoulder.  
  
And then he thumbed through the pages of his notebook - past the dot-points he'd jotted next to various illustrations of wild berries and mushrooms, and the pressed flowers that threatened to fall into his lap - to an area near the back, tucked out of reach from the rest of his research. Some of the pages were crinkled from when the rain had leaked through his coat... and although the fire and a couple of well-placed stones had done a fair job of mitigating the damage, the scholar had nearly had a heart attack when Ashei prodded it with her hands and announced that it was dry.   
  
_'... Everything you showed me,'_ he thought wryly.  
  
He stopped upon the first blank page... that had followed a_ series_ of sketches capturing the warrior during their various stops.  
  
They were amateurish, at first.  
  
A lone, indiscernible figure standing in a field of flowers.  
  
A woman, holding back her bowstring as she looked to a rabbit in the distance.  
  
Eventually, the curtain of dark hair that obscured her face crept into view... along with those sharp eyes, which had thick lashes running along the bottom lids... and her lips, which were pale and small, often tinted from the cold. He'd pieced her armour together with painstaking detail and then erased the parts of her knuckles where the light shone back.  
  
Soon, the book was half-full of her striking features, immersed in the dry wilderness of the tundra. Always listening... waiting... watching.  
  
_Fleeting._  
  
Her attention, never honed on the artist.  
  
Shad reflected upon the day just passed before he seized the memory he'd been dying to record all this time. That moment when Ashei had spotted a fox with curiously grey fur, unlike the russet colour of the grasslands varieties, across the barren slopes. She drew in a quiet gasp before her eyes brightened with an apparent fondness for the rare creature.  
  
And then... she smiled, unguardedly, in his presence. The sight had warmed him just as the fire did now.  
  
He soon set to work, practicing the subtle curvature of her eyes as they'd narrowed, the angles of her face as she'd turned away... although, he had to admit, the trees and mountain side surrounding her were certainly _impressionistic _compared to the level of detail he'd summoned for his colleague.  
  
Shad immediately snapped the book shut just as he heard the warrior's footsteps crunching up the side of the hill. He then smiled to her in greeting, as she hauled a great salmon to their campsite over her shoulder.  
  
"Hope you're hungry," she said proudly, before slapping their catch down onto a slab of wood and then readying the knife that was to gut it.  
  
"My apologies! You see, there was rather a long wait involved... so I had my fill of these berries, instead," he'd joked, before gesturing to one of the branches that hung near his head in the alcove. "They are actually rather nice. If you enjoy the sensation of burning in your mouth."  
  
Ashei held back a laugh as she regarded him coyly over the flames.  
  
"Stop fooling around, yeah? And help me get this show on the road."

* * *

The next day, after a careful descent from the mountain ridge, they'd happened upon a quiet flat of grass in the heart of the wilderness. Here, the pine trees dipped down into the lulling river, which was now an uncanny shade of turquoise blue... and nothing quite like the estuaries that ran through central Hyrule.  
  
Ashei looked to the snowy heights that bordered the horizon ahead, coming to the conclusion that this might have been their last stretch of forest before the cold reigned over the province. She then turned her attention back to the strip of water that glistened nearby, breathing in the balmy air that echoed faintly of Zora's Domain.  
  
"Did you perhaps want to stop and take a closer look?" Shad enquired.  
  
"The journey's only gonna get rougher from here on out. Don't wanna delay it any longer than necessary," she rebuffed.  
  
"... Ah! But look at these wildflowers!" the scholar gasped, before steering his horse through the field and closer to the river. "Would you afford us a small break, at the very least?"  
  
Unable to argue with him, the warrior followed his lead over to the river's edge, where they'd slipped free of their horses.  
  
Their small break soon fell into an hour. Shad sat contentedly in the sun along the riverbank, having recorded his observations of the flowers long ago, and pretended to be sketching them as his eyes flashed over the pages. The warrior had since absolved herself of her armour and stepped into the water, with little else but the shorts under her leggings and a grey bodice that contrasted against her pale skin.  
  
He did blush and consciously turn himself away as she removed her clothing _\- without so much as a warning_ \- although things quickly returned to normal once her form was obscured by part of the river... and he'd realised, with some relief, that she were not actually indecent.  
  
It was here and now, in the flickering light of the river, with her hands trailing along the surface, that he could not bring himself to look away.  
  
Ashei closed her eyes as she enjoyed the relative comfort of the waters, noting that they were, in fact, warmer than the mountain air that shifted lightly around them.  
  
_'Perfect...'_  
  
Shad echoed to himself, scrawling quietly into the pages as she paced mere metres away. The waves of the river melted effortlessly around her body, as she stood, central, to the living stage of the wilds.  
  
It was true that his writing implements were meant to be used on research... and he hadn't let his quiet obsession get in the way of their work, having already recorded numerous examples of the North's unique flora and fauna. But the beauty that unfolded before him was forever changing. And he'd known that no single picture was ever going to do it justice.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Snapping out of his thoughts - his heart now beating fast in the pit of his throat - Shad tore his gaze away from the page and looked up at Ashei. He closed the book just as suddenly, feeling a surge of adrenaline as he'd done so.  
  
"I know you're busy. And you've already scrubbed up this morning," she began. "But the water's actually... nice. You should give _that_ a break, yeah? Jump in for a bit."  
  
"O-Oh, I... I'm fine," he stammered.  
  
"Don't tell me you can't swim."  
  
"I most certainly _can,"_ Shad said, wryly. "However, today I shall be enjoying the water from a safe distance. Thank you."  
  
"... At least take those ridiculous socks off and dip your feet in," the warrior bartered, rolling her eyes. "Come on! Or I'll _carry_ you in."  
  
Ashei began to stalk towards him from the river's edge, causing the scholar to flinch and scramble backwards, stuffing the book under his arm as he did so. She lurched out of the water and dashed in his direction, with a smirk on her otherwise aloof face, before Shad tripped onto the grass. The carpet of flowers that ruptured under his fall hadn’t made the landing any softer.   
  
He expected to hear her laughter, as it usually rang out, whenever he'd fumbled a shot with the bow or his horse had munched on his shoulder.  
  
Instead, there was only silence.   
  
With great horror, he then turned around and witnessed the sight of his notebook spilled open... the pages turning gently in the breeze, as the various sketches he'd gathered thus far were brought before the warrior's keen gaze. Ashei brought a hand to her mouth as she _gasped, _horrified at the unexpected nature of what she was seeing.  
  
... To say that he felt embarrassed was the understatement of the century. He'd known that he'd grown too complacent by daring to brandish such a thing by the water's edge, while she waded around only paces away. And yet, nothing could have prepared him for such a moment.  
  
His sketches were a secret thing - _a private thing_ \- as much as they might’ve ruined her own privacy. Nobody was ever supposed to know. It was exactly the sort of secret that one ought to have taken with them to the grave.  
  
"What is the meaning of **this**?" she demanded, eyes widening before she could even begin to process the implications behind this discovery.  
  
Just how long had he been watching her? Days? ... _Months?_   
  
Had this actually started all the way back in Telma's Bar, where they'd shared a meeting table nearly everyday through the Twilight crisis? Or was this something new? Some strange compulsion that had come over him since they'd departed from civilisation?  
  
"Ashei, I-I... can explain-"  
  
"Explain?! Explain how _this..."_ she lifted up the notebook to a page that depicted her with her eyes closed, her head nestled gently against one of her arms, "... wound up in your field notes? I thought you were working on your compendium of all the resources we've seen! Animals, plants, landmarks! Why is there a picture of me sleeping in there?!"  
  
Nights of him scrawling by the campfire came flooding back to her as she shouted, prompting her to wonder what else had slipped past her notice.  
  
"I... _uh..."_  
  
Frightfully, Shad collected the notebook and then pulled it to his chest, steeling himself before he would even attempt to grapple with the fury that burned within her.  
  
"Y-You just... always looked so... one with nature," he swallowed. "In all the years I've known you Ashei, I'd never have guessed that you were out of your element in the city. Yet... it is so painfully clear to me now that _this _is the place where your heart truly lies. I found every one of those moments to be beautiful, beyond compare."  
  
The warrior's expression hadn't budged an inch, though the sharpness in her eyes had softened, just a little. "So, what? You think I belong out here cause I can't tell the difference between those damned forks in the palace?"  
  
"Heavens, no!"  
  
Shad slowly picked himself up off the ground as he continued, not bothering to brush the dirt and petals from his coat.  
  
"I only meant... that, this _place._.. it strips away all pretension and leaves people such as myself vulnerable to the wolves. But not you... Never, you! The way that you _are,_ Ashei... how you look to your surroundings, approach survival, and even in the way you talk... you bare everything to the world! I always found it refreshing. Inspiring! When you believe someone to be a fool, you simply tell them so! It was that honesty I'd wished to capture, in all of the wonder and exhaustion of the road."  
  
There was a heavy pause in which she said nothing and turned away, locking her attention onto the river instead. Its blue waters churned lightly in the current, and she observed the manner in which the froth and pine needles that gathered around the rocks were pushed downstream.  
  
"I don't know what to say to you," Ashei finally admitted, meeting his eyes with an intense flare. "I normally have trouble letting my guard down around others but I guess I just... always found it so_ easy_ to do around you."  
  
He knew that apologising was futile, though that wasn't about to stop him from trying.

"You didn't do anything else weird like steal bits of my hair, did you?" she questioned, brusquely.  
  
"N-No! Never!" he stammered. "My intention was _never_ to encroach into your space or to disturb you as you normally are! In fact, my aim was to capture these moments as though I were not even there. However... I do apologise that I did not ask your permission, first. And I would completely understand if this were to put an end to our working relationship. Or to create a strain that cannot be bridged, out of my _foolishness-"_  
  
"Stop talking."  
  
Ashei sighed heavily and then brought a hand to her temple, shielding whatever emotion swept across her face.  
  
"Can I look at them?"  
  
"Oh... ahaha... th-they're not _very good-"_  
  
She shot him an icy glare, as though to say he had little choice in the matter.  
  
Even now, as she looked upon his work, in silence, he knew these drawings to be only pale imitations of her beauty. He recalled the moments tied to each illustration as they passed, like a series of treasures he'd hidden away, until finally the warrior stopped upon the final page, depicting the glint in her eyes as she'd discovered the fox.  
  
"Won't you at least scold me for being an idiot?" Shad finally asked, after biting down on his lip for some time.  
  
"I'm still making my mind up about that."  
  
After what seemed like an eternity in hell, Ashei finally closed the notebook and then set it down on a nearby boulder some distance from the water's edge. "Come to the river. We'll talk, there," she growled over her shoulder.  
  
"... O-Of course," Shad obliged.  
  
Then, the warrior waited for him in the middle of the stream, standing where the water came up to her midsection just like she had earlier.  
  
There was no other way to go about it. He slowly stripped off the various layers that had shielded him from the wilderness up to this point - the dark cloak that protected against the elements, his purple coat adorned with buttons that depicted the Oocca... followed by his white ribboned shirt, his trousers, his "ridiculous" socks... and then finally, his glasses.  
  
There he stood. Alone and vulnerable, in nothing but his smallclothes, before he ventured out into the rushing stream.  
  
The current pulled him_ in_ as he stepped forward, clumsily, over the stones that ran along the bottom. Once he'd made it most of the way, Ashei finally turned to meet his face. He found himself feeling grateful that she'd looked away in time that he undressed.  
  
"... Here _you_ are, Shad," she said softly. "One with nature. Everything bared to the world. How does it feel?"  
  
"... Cold," he admitted with honesty.  
  
The warrior looked him over... noting how his skin stood on end in the breeze, against the mild temperature of the river... how the veins in his neck flashed green against his warm complexion... and how the sunlight danced with the colours in his auburn hair. His eyes - a deep indigo, like the evening sky upon the snow - seemed softer without those round, golden frames.   
  
He was beautiful, beyond compare.  
  
"Good," she answered.  
  
And then, she edged forward... reaching out to hold him by the wrists.   
  
A small sound escaped his mouth before she kissed him, slowly, breathing all of the warmth back into his bones.


End file.
